Complicated
by BumbleBeee96
Summary: When a dead marine shows up in Sunnydale, things seem normal for NCIS. That is until Buffy gets involved... Now the team have to deal with vampires, family issues and a mystery woman from Gibbs' past, but who is she? And what does she want? *The first six chapters are in the gradual process of being re-written* *Chapter 1&2 re-written*
1. Chapter One: The Dead Marine

"Pack your bags, we're going to Sunnydale, California," Gibb's told his co-workers as he sauntered into the offices, placing the cup of coffee on his desk. His three team members, Tony DiNozzo, Timothy McGee and Ziva David looked up, a slight perplexed expression across all of their faces.

"Why exactly are we doing that, boss?" DiNozzo questioned, curiously. Surely they wouldn't be handling a case in California; it wasn't an area they were assigned to.

"Marine's been murdered," Gibb's stated as he swallowed a mouthful of hot coffee. He shuffled some paperwork around on his desk until he found the piece he was looking for.

"Er, boss, shouldn't black ops be handling that then? They are closer," McGee asked, glancing away from his computer. DiNozzo nodded in agreement, it was exactly what he was thinking too.

"For some reason it's been sent here, there's a small headquarters ready in Sunnydale so we're taking Abby, Ducky and Palmer as well," Gibb's replied. He looked over to Tony who hadn't shown any sign of getting up. He simply sat spinning in his chair, unlike the others who were preparing for their leave. "DiNozza!" He yelled, startling the agent who wobbled in his seat before jumping up. He ran a hand through his ruffled hair and looked up at Gibbs.

"Yeah, boss?"

"Go get Abby, Ducky and Palmer," Gibbs stated, as if it were the most obvious thing in the world. DiNozzo really wasn't awake today; that would soon change.

"On it, boss,"

.

The constant clicking of Abby's black platform boots echoed through the building the team were going to be working in during their stay in Sunnydale. It wasn't a particularly big building, but it carried all of the essentials; a morgue, computer systems, and the second floor which held the rooms the team would be staying in over the next few nights.

The man who had accompanied the team to the building stopped in his tracks, sliding out a small card from his jacket pocket. "Here's my card if you encounter any problems with the building. Greg will show you the crime scene; he's our leading investigator here. Good luck," He stated, before turning away and walking towards the exit of the building, "In a town like this, you're gonna' need it," He added in a murmur as the door swung shut behind him.

It wasn't long until another man appeared through the doorway, dressed in a dark grey suit. His short black hair was slightly ruffled, and his dark eyes were weary. The man looked completely drained of energy, yet he still managed to present the team with a friendly smile. Gibbs took a mental note on his body language, he seemed like quite a relaxed man, strolling into the room and holding his hand out to shake his own. Gibbs took it, returning the act of appreciation.

"Hello NCIS, I'm glad you made it here in one piece. I'm Greg; I suppose you'll want to see the body before the sun sets so we better get going," He concluded, gesturing for the team to follow him as he headed straight back towards the exit, leaving no time for discussion. It was this that made Gibbs realise that this man wasn't one to wait around, he preferred getting the job done as soon as possible.

"Just show us the way," Gibbs responded, matching the man's pace with his own as they wandered up towards the cars.

"Keep up," Greg instructed before disappearing into the car he had only just arrived out of.

Gibbs pulled the car into a stop on the side of the dust road through a clearing in the forest. Ducky followed behind in the van, ready to transport the body back to the morgue once necessary. The police tape already surrounded the area, and right in the middle of this seclusion lay the body of the marine, all signs of life drained out from the man.

"Poor fellow; not surprised though, not here. Things like this always happen here; never can find the killers though," Greg stated, his eyes focused upon the corpse.

"By that you would mean?" Ziva began, as she pulled the gloves onto her slender fingers and began observing the scene.

"You believe in ghost stories?" Greg asked, raising his eyebrow at the female.

"No," Gibbs cut in, giving Ziva no chance to respond. He didn't think it was right for any investigator like himself and his team to believe in ghost stories, it only prevents the true search for the real murderer.

"Trust me Greg, we'll find the killer," Tony stated, smiling playfully and chuckling to himself. "Right, boss?" He added before catching the look in Gibbs' eyes and commencing the search for evidence silently.

"Such a shame, a young man like yourself meeting such a premature end," Ducky murmured as he crouched down towards the body. "Mr. Palmer, would you mind assisting me?"

Jimmy Palmer hurried over to the doctor and kneeled down beside him, beginning the usual routine for the dead body, checking for obvious wounds and signs of defence, and calculating an approximate time of death. Ducky's hand shifted over to examine the neck of the victim where a faint swelling was situated. A small patch of dry blood covered the skin in the area by the jugular. It was a mess. His fingers calmly and gently pressed against the skin, feeling two small wounds into the neck. It appeared to be two rounded holes.

"What do we have here?" He mumbled quietly to himself, curiosity overtaking the old doctor once again.

"What is it, Duck?" Gibbs questioned, walking over towards the examination of the corpse.

"Take a look for yourself, Jethro,"

Gibbs knelt down beside the victim, his eyes following to where the doctor had found the wounds. He soon found the two small holes, just next to Ducky's fingers.

"Two holes?" Gibbs stated, questioningly, "Cause of death?" He asked, unable to certify whether this was in fact the injury that had killed him.

"I can't tell for certain yet, but it's definitely pierced the jugular, quite a bit of blood loss as well, if not all,"

"Oooh, can I see?" Abby chimed in, as she enthusiastically ran over to the body and bowed over to examine the neck. "Cool," She stated, smiling at the two men.

Both Gibbs and Ducky glanced up at her, confusion covering both of their faces. Neither could quite figure out how the young forensic scientist thought this was 'cool'.

"You know, in a bad way," She reassured, furrowing her brow, "It's just, it kind of looks like a vampire bite," She added. Greg shuffled nervously at the sound of the word, causing Abby to flicker her gaze over to him, slightly at a loss at his reaction. She shook her head before turning back to face Gibbs. "Don't you think so?" She questioned, watching her boss and waiting for a reaction.

"Vampire bite, Abs? I'm not so sure that's what happened here," Gibbs responded, dismissing the girl's comment. He loved Abby, she was like a daughter to him, but sometimes her judgement could be a little dicey when she became excited over something.

"I should get going now; you'll be able to find your own way back, right?" Greg asked, quickly glancing over at the sunlight behind the trees as it made its way down into the horizon.

"Sure," Tony stated, shrugging his shoulders casually, "Piece of cake,"

Greg nodded his head at the agent before heading back towards his car, increasing his pace slightly as the nerves gradually overcame him. He wanted to get home preferably before the sun sets.

"Ziva! McGee! Found anything yet?" Gibbs questioned, taking his attention away from Greg who sped off back down the road, causing a small cloud of dust to rise from the ground.

"Nothing," Ziva responded, whilst heading back towards Gibbs, hands empty. "I couldn't find anything," She repeated, her hands flying up into the air and back down by her sides as she spoke.

"Damn it," Gibbs muttered, "McGee?" He questioned, although he already knew the answer from the lack of evidence in the agent's hand.

"Me neither, boss," He replied, reinforcing Gibbs' certainty of the subject.

"Jethro, we better get this body to the lab," Ducky stated, rising to his feet and smoothing out the hat he wore on his head.

"Right, what's the time of death?"

"Well approximately 23:30 last night."

"Got it,"

Gibbs took one last look around the area. Trees stood tall around scene, the setting sun shining through the small cracks in the leaves as it descended into the horizon. The woods were situated right next to the graveyard, something Gibbs found pretty ironic, although not in a good way. After all, another marine had lost his life, something Gibbs always hated about his job. The part he loved? Well, that was getting the justice.

.

The blonde waited anxiously in the shop her watcher, Giles, owned; The Magic Box. All he had told her was that he had some news. Question was, was it good or bad? That, he hadn't said. She wasn't too pleased about that, she preferred to know what she was dealing with straight away, she hated waiting. After another few strides of pacing, the shop bell sounded as Giles entered the room. The blonde spun around to face him, a slight annoyed expression on her face.

"Giles, finally," Buffy whined, watching as he wandered over and placed a few things behind the shop counter.

"Sorry, I got caught up." He responded, apologising for his bad timing.

"Ok, what's the news?" She asked, striding over to the counter, ready to hear what she so desperately wanted to know, well the wanted part was based on the type of news she was about to receive.

"There's apparently a rising of a new vampire, one that's trying to create an army," He informed.

Yep, that was definitely not the type of news she wanted to hear. "How many have they got?" Buffy questioned, placing her hands on her hips.

"Considering it's only a recent thing, my guess is not many; otherwise there would definitely be something in the news. So far there have been two missing reports, and one man found dead,"

"Who was he?"

"A marine named David Sable,"

"Ok, so we should check out the body then, in case it wakes up," Buffy stated, one vampire she could handle, easy. A whole army, she wasn't so sure about.

"Good idea, but better wait until its dark, you don't want to get caught." Giles informed, reminding his slayer of the dangers of being seen while doing her job.

"I know; usual morgue?"

"No, actually a new team of investigators are here and they're using the building by 'Kerri's Koffee Shop'. There's a morgue in there so I'm guessing that's where the body will be,"

"Got it, thanks Giles, better go and pick up Dawn from school, otherwise she'll complain," Buffy stated, rolling her eyes as she spoke.

Giles laughed. "Yes, well, don't forget about the body," He called after her.

"Yeah," Buffy responded, her voice fading in the distance as she walked out of the shop and towards the car outside.

.

The door at the front of the brick building opened easily, if it wasn't locked, then someone must be inside, Buffy figured. She walked slowly through the desolate building, her footsteps echoing into the dark room. She could barely see what was around her; only able to make out the outlines of furniture. She wandered towards another door, glancing through into a new room, an office, with a collection of desks and computers. The lights were on in this room; however the poor illumination failed to give off much brightness. Buffy soon spotted a lamp light placed on one of the desks, lightening the area around it, revealing a man sat at one of the desks. His brown hair looked as if it had been run through several times with his hand, and his chocolate brown eyes looked tiredly at the computer screen in front of him. The man glanced up as the blonde wandered into the room, walking closer towards him. There was no way of sneaking past him, and she needed to get rid of this vampire, if the man had been turned, that is.

"What are you doing in here?" The man questioned, standing up from his chair as Buffy headed towards him. His gaze followed her with every movement, right up until she stood straight ahead of him, just on the opposite side of the desk.

"I'm really sorry," She stated, clenching her fingers into a fist by her side.

"For wh-" The man began, before being interrupted by the strong fist colliding into his face. He felt himself slip away into unconsciousness, no matter how hard he tried, he couldn't stop it from overcoming him.

"For that..." She murmured, watching as the man fell to the floor. She winced as she saw the bruise slowly forming around his eye. That was going to hurt in the morning, she thought to herself, feeling slight sympathy for the man. She did have to do this though, if she hadn't, and if she had simply just left the corpse in the morgue, then there was a good chance he would've have been killed. That's one thing she didn't need, not when they lived on the hellmouth.

She drew her attention away from the brunette, and wandered over to the staircase to her right. The morgue was in the basement, so luckily there was only one flight of stairs to walk down. The doors slid open automatically as she approached, allowing her entrance into the room. The chill soon hit her, sending shivers up her spine. This was why she hated morgues, they were always so cold. It appeared empty, although the light was on, indicating someone could still be in here. She moved over to the dead body that still lay on the metal bench. He hadn't been cut into yet. She examined the bite marks on his neck. Ok, it's definitely a vampire, question is have you been changed? She drew her stake and looked around the room. The sound of footsteps approached her. Buffy swung around, aiming her stake at the small man in defence. She quickly lowered it as she realised it was the pathologist of the morgue.

"What is a young girl like you doing down here, I wonder,"

"I'm sorry," She responded, attempting to think of an excuse. She never really good at these sort of things, excuses just didn't come naturally to her. The man's eyes widened, staring straight past her. That didn't look good, Buffy noted, before turning around and taking a few steps backwards,

"Move over there," Buffy instructed, telling the doctor to hide where he wouldn't be in danger.

She spun into action, running at the vampire. She ducked as a fist swing around for her, only missing by a fraction. She sent one overpowering kick directly into his chest, sending him flying back against the table. The metal clattered to the floor, echoing through the bleak building. She shot a hand out towards his arm, blocking the attack. With one swift movement, she pulled his arm to the side of him and plunged the stake directly into his unbeating heart. The body exploded into dust, fluttering to the floor into one pile.

"Not so tough now," Buffy muttered, gazing at the pile of dust in front of her.

"What was that?" The man asked; his eyes wide in terror.

"Trust me when I tell you he's the bad guy," Buffy responded, sending a small, comforting smile towards the pathologist before heading back through the sliding doors and up the darkened staircase. She took one last glance at the unconscious brunette by the desk before exiting the building, leaving behind the pile of dust and terrified doctor.

.

Ziva wandered into the NCIS headquarters carrying the tray of coffee for everyone. She had opted on first coffee duty; after all, she enjoyed waking up early. It meant getting so much done with the rest of the day ahead of you. As she sat down on her office chair, she heard a groan erupt from behind another desk. Tony's desk. Ziva quickly became alert, wandering over to the desk and peering behind it. Tony sat up from the floor, rubbing his eyes. He winced in pain as he touched the one on the right.

"Tony!" Ziva exclaimed, astonished. "What are you doing down here? And what on earth happened to your eye?" She questioned, staring at the dark purple bruise that surrounded his right brown eye.

Tony rubbed the back of his neck, not knowing what to say. It wasn't long until the memories came flooding back to him. The blonde woman, she did this, she came into the office and punched him; but why? Who was she? What did she want from NCIS?


	2. Chapter Two: Meeting The Slayer

"Some girl came in last night, punched me straight in the eye," Tony responded, gently touching the swollen skin to check how bad the damage was.

Ziva bit her lip, forcing her face to stay serious; "A girl?" She questioned, a smile creeping its way onto her lips.

"Hey! She was a very strong girl!" DiNozzo exclaimed, his pitch rising as he defended himself. Whoever this girl was, she wasn't normal. No dainty woman like that blonde could punch like that. Whether that was simply the denial taking over his mind was another question.

Ziva turned her head; a smile still plastered on her face, and found Ducky wandering over to them from down the stairs. He didn't say anything, or look up. His face was pale, and from the looks of things, he had been up all night. The poor man seemed extremely worried about something.

"Ducky?" Ziva questioned, glancing over at the doctor, she knew something was wrong. Ducky never behaved like this, he was always smiling; he always greeted the team members. Never did he say nothing.

"Oh, Tony, Ziva, good morning," He stated in greeting, the tone of his voice indicating that he had been so lost in his own thoughts that he hadn't noticed them, and yet his eyes still avoided contact. He reached for the coffee Ziva was holding and took one long gulp.

"Hey, Ducky, did you by any chance see a girl in here last night, perhaps with a bruised fist," Tony asked, hoping that the punch did some damage to the girl who had knocked him out.

"DiNozzo, what's this about a girl?" Gibbs' voice came into focus as the team leader appeared in the room, taking the coffee from Ziva.

"She was in here last night, and _she_ punched _me_!" Tony stated, gesturing to the painful bruise on his face.

"Actually, I did see a girl last night," Ducky announced, his voice coming out very calm for such a worried expression that plagued his face.

"You did?" Gibbs questioned, slightly surprised at the doctor's comment.

"Yeah, and I think we need to talk about it, something happened, something I can't explain..."

"Alright, what is it?"

"Come down to the morgue," Ducky instructed, knowing that it would be easier to explain after showing them the body, or lack of body.

Although it all felt rather strange with Ducky barely speaking and the silence inevitably falling over them, they still followed, hoping that this small journey would give them some answers as to what was going on. Once they had all arrived on the bottom floor, and inside the chilling room of the morgue, Ducky wandered over to what appeared to be a small pile of dust.

"Ducky?" Ziva questioned, her tone filled with an edge of apprehension. This whole thing had felt way too weird, what exactly was the doctor trying to tell them.

"The girl came down here, she held some form of a wooden stick; got a bit of a fright when I approached her but then I saw something..." Ducky's voice trailed off, evidently from the shock and uneasiness of retelling the tale.

"Duck, talk to me," Gibbs reassured, his voice softer than usual, hoping to comfort his old friend.

"The man got up, the dead marine. He just stood up; and then the girl ran over to him and eventually stabbed him, straight through the heart with that wooden stick. Then there was nothing. He turned to dust. That pile over there. I'm sorry Jethro but I hadn't started the autopsy yet so we have nothing,"

"Wait, the _dead _marine stood up?" Gibbs asked; putting emphasis on the word _dead; _it was just that what the doctor was telling him didn't seem right, or logical, or realistic.

"Yes, that is what I saw,"

"Er, Ducky, he was dead though," Tony stated, the words falling out slowly, as if that would help him understand better. It certainly didn't make Tony feel better, he couldn't find one simple explanation for what Ducky had seen, and that took his confusion to a seriously high level.

"Don't you think I know that?" The doctor's volume rose, shouting wasn't something he liked to do, but sometimes it was necessary. It wasn't as if he could explain what had happened, it just happened, that was it.

"Ducky, calm down. It's just a bit unrealistic that's all, are you sure you weren't dreaming?" McGee questioned, glancing down at the pile of dust uneasily. If he were dreaming then where did the dust come from? Where was the dead body of the marine he saw only yesterday?

"I wasn't dreaming! The proof is all around us, the dead body is gone," Ducky stated, and then pointed down towards the pile of dust, "And how would you explain that?"

Gibbs avoided the statement from the doctor, and decided to move the conversation on further, they clearly needed to do something about this whole situation. "Hey, Duck; do you know who the girl was?"

"I think I can draw up a sketch of her face,"

"Good, as soon as you have finished give it to Tony. DiNozza, when you get it, run it through the system. I want to know who this girl is!" Gibbs explained, a slight amount of anger falling through his voice. He didn't enjoy people beating up his team, or frightening his friends, and he definitely didn't enjoy them tampering with his evidence.

Another voice came into focus, the familiar face of Abby appearing alongside it, "Hey, what's going on down here?"

"Our victim, er, died, again, kind of..." Tony tried to explain, but managed to fail, the words just didn't sound right, and they had no realistic explanation.

"Huh?"

"He apparently turned into dust?" Ziva interjected, retelling the story just as the doctor had done. It was all they had right now.

"Like a vampire?" Abby asked; clear enthusiasm in her voice. That was exactly what they needed, Abby jumping to crazy theories over the complex situation.

"Now that you mention it-" McGee began, glancing over at the forensic scientist.

"McGee! Don't even finish that sentence; this is a real case not some movie. I need you to find Greg, ask him if there's any more bodies, got it?"

"Yes, boss," Tim responded, jumping straight back into professional mode, but not before slipping a smile at Abby who hadn't stopped smiling since he had began to agree with her; they did love their little theories. And after all, it did make sense, well only in the whole not making sense way.

.

The Summers' home was the general meeting point between the Scooby gang, being the largest of the homes they all had, and belonging to the most people, now that Willow and Tara had moved in. It was a very cosy home, the colours were all warm and inviting, and it had a comfortable feel about it. It was the perfect place for unwinding from a hard day or night, or simply for just hanging out.

Giles wandered through into the already full living room, where Buffy sat with Xander, Anya, Willow, Tara and Dawn. "So, did the marine turn out to be a vampire?" He questioned, watching for a response from the blonde.

"Yeah, he was, not anymore though. Hey, Xander, can you pass the chips?" She asked the man, reaching across the sofa with her hand, aiming to grab the bowl that Xander passed over.

"He's dead then,"

"Oh yeah, he's dust,"

"Excellent, did anyone see you?"

"This guy at a desk but don't worry I took care of him, oh, and the doctor," Buffy responded, her tone casual. She leant back against the sofa cushions nonchalantly, placing another chip into her mouth before giving the bowl back to her friend.

Giles raised his eyebrows, still staring at the blonde who seemed rather dismissive about the whole situation, "What happened to the man?"

"Knocked him out," Buffy stated, glancing up at her watcher for the first time since he came in and smiled quite proudly.

"And the doctor?"

"He was shocked, but I doubt he'll tell anyone. No one in this town does, they do that whole purposely forgetting thing, guess it comes in handy,"

"Just try to be careful. Are you on patrol tonight?"

"Yes, I'll fight the bad guys and give you info if I find anything _unusual_," The blonde responded, smiling at her watcher and turning her attention back to the chips which had found their way to the end of the sofa, far away from her. "Chips, please?"

.

Tony paused from typing, watching as the new information popped up on his screen. He had finally received a result from the search on the sketch of the blonde; he couldn't wait to find out who she is. "Hey, boss!" The brunette called over at the team leader who had timed his entrance perfectly. It was a Gibbs trick, no one knew how he did it, but he always appeared when there was information to be shared.

"Found something?" Gibbs questioned, wandering over towards the main screen, soon being joined by McGee and Ziva as they waited on the news.

"Yeah, the I.D on our mystery girl, it took a while but the sketch found a match," Tony informed, resuming his typing against the keyboard so that the photo of the beautiful blonde was transferred onto the main screen. "Name's Buffy Anne Summers, born in Los Angeles, moved here about five years ago. She's twenty-one years old, and... That's strange," He murmured, as his eyes moved down the information in front of him.

"What is it, DiNozzo?"

"She has a death certificate, from a few months ago. But then there are records of a workplace after that,"

"Do you think she's using the I.D as a cover?"

"No, you can access her school photos through her life; they're all the same woman. Might just be a mistake,"

"Maybe, we'll definitely find out; any criminal records?"

"There's a few interesting things on her record. She was in a mental institution when she was fifteen for a couple weeks, claiming vampires were attacking her. Expelled from Hemery High School in LA, burned the school gym down. There's been a couple suspected robberies but there were no charges filed, suspected for a murder when she was seventeen but there was no evidence so the charges were dropped, then another murder suspect when she was eighteen, but someone else was behind it so the charges were once again dropped. She was expelled from Sunnydale High after running away; she was let back in though. There's also some form of classified government military record from a couple years ago, but I can't access it,"

"Well she certainly is an interesting character; what's the address?"

"1630 Revello Drive,"

"Ok, DiNozzo, you're with me; we'll check it out. Ziva, McGee, try and get access to the military record, I want to know what's in those files,"

.

Gibbs drove the car along the quiet road until he reached 1630 Revello Drive. There were two cars already parked in the driveway, so he parked alongside the curb before he and DiNozza moved out of the vehicle, standing up and stretching their legs. They wandered up towards the front door, knocking firmly against the wood. Tony found himself resting his hand on the gun behind his jacket, the usual routine, until it swung open revealing a man, around the age of mid-forties.

"Hello, is Miss. Summers here?" Tony questioned, as Gibbs subtly peered into the house behind the man, only out of the corner of his eye.

"She is," The man responded, "Do you mind if I ask what this is concerning?"

"I think it would be better that we speak to her first," Gibbs cut in, leading the man to call for the blonde, who then happily walked up towards the door, wondering what Giles wanted. Her smile soon faded once she recognised Tony, something that both the investigators noted in their minds.

"I'm special agent Tony DiNozza, NCIS and this is Special Agent Leroy Jethro Gibbs," Tony stated, lifting his badge from his jacket pocket and holding it open for the man and woman to see, "We need to ask you a few questions?"

The uneasiness was evident in her tone as she responded with a simple okay, opening the door wider so that they could walk into her home. They followed her into the house, Gibbs taking a swift glance into the living room where a few of what he guessed were her friends peered through the house at them, wondering what the commotion was all about. DiNozzo and Gibbs sat down on the dining room chairs, opposite to where the blonde and the man were now sitting.

"Miss. Summers, we have evidence to believe you were in our NCIS headquarters yesterday, is there anything you would like to say about that?" Tony queried, taking charge of the questioning. It was how they worked at the beginning of an investigation; Gibbs would study the way they acted, Tony would get the answers, that is until Gibbs really wants to intervene, then it would get more serious.

Buffy shared a glance with her watcher, clearly uncertain of what to say, she really didn't want to have to fall into this kind of situation. She didn't think that it would have worked out that way. She took another look at the brunette opposite her, taking in the sight of the bruised eye; it seemed like it hurt, a lot. "Yes, I was there,"

"So, you're admitting to trespassing into a federal building"

"I guess,"

"Where you assaulted an agent, and tampered with evidence, a body to be exact?" Gibbs interjected, feeling a slight anger rise up inside of him; she'd admitted to trespassing, did she really think that it would go unpunished? What was this girl playing at?

"I didn't assault or tamper with anything," The blonde defended, trying her best to work the lies easily into her tone, she just hoped it came off convincing. By the look she received, she was sure it hadn't.

"We have two witnesses putting you at the scene, the agent beside me who's sporting a very nice bruise, and a pathologist, who watched you destroy the body,"

"What body?"

"The body of a dead marine; someone who we needed to perform an autopsy on so that we could catch the killer; the family deserve closure, do you disagree with that?"

"Of course not, but I didn't do anything!"

"You just admitted to trespassing, so stop messing around and give us some answers," Gibbs stated, his volume rising to intimidate her, he wasn't sure if it was working completely, although she seemed to be growing very nervous.

Buffy shared another look with Giles, the uneasiness overwhelming her. There was no way out of this. Not one she could see anyway. She could try telling them the truth; she had done so before in extreme cases. Giles wore a puzzled expression, although he tried his best to hide it, Buffy knew him too well. She knew he was thinking the exact same thing as her. They couldn't very well let a slayer go to jail; well not one that deserved it anyway, she corrected in her mind, remembering that Faith was currently in prison, doing her time for the murder she committed. Before the blonde even had a chance to respond, the sound of footsteps came into focus, the face of her sister appearing at the edge of the dining room. Her long brown hair hung loosely down her back, and she stared at the investigators with big green eyes, wondering mostly what was happening.

"Buffy, is everything alright?" Dawn questioned, her voice laced with innocence, concern falling through the cracks.

"I'm fine, Dawn. Just go back into the living room," Buffy told her, sending a reassuring smile at her sister, one that everyone could probably recognise as fake. The blonde was in no mood to smile, she was more worried about what was happening, she simply didn't want her sister brought into this. Dawn nodded, returning the smile before disappearing back through the house, finding her way back into the living room and telling the group everything that she had seen.

Tony's voice brought the blonde back to reality, her attention soon turning over to the two investigators, "Well, do you want to explain your actions?"


	3. Chapter Three: Just a joke, right?

"If you really want to know, well, that guy was killed by a vampire, the dead guy was turned into a vampire, I then stabbed your vampire, and therefore it's gone. You should be thanking me not interrogating me,"

"Vampires?" Gibbs asked, laughing, "Do you really expect me to believe that. There is always a murderer and it is always human not fiction..." Gibbs began.

"Look, I told you the story, you can't tell anyone, but you have to believe it. You wasting your time on me will not do anyone any good. I still have a vampire to kill so if I were you, I'd be heading back to Washington," Buffy stated, her voice serious.

"How would you know about vampires anyway?" Tony asked, his voice showed no interest, however his eyes expressed curiosity.

Gibbs glanced over to him. Was it so crazy to believe that maybe, just maybe vampires did exist?

"I'm the slayer,"

"The what?" Tony asked.

"In every generation there is a Chosen One, she alone will stand against the vampires, the demons and the forces of darkness. That is a slayer," Giles cut in, reciting the phrase he knew too well.

"Wait, demons as well?"

"Yes demons, now this is ludicrous, if you don't leave her alone she'll not be able to stop a rising force in the demon world. You will die if you don't watch your back, you don't realise where you are. Sunnydale is rested upon a hellmouth which is basically an entrance to hell so you can either sit there denying it all or you can let her do the job she is meant to do!" Giles stated, his voice raised, anger hinted it.

"And what are we meant to do about this case, I'm not just leaving it because you say to!" Gibbs shouted.

"Well wait until another body shows up, knowing this place it will!"

"This isn't over!" Gibbs stated as he and Tony stood up.

"Bye," Tony cut in as they turned around and left the house.

Dawn came out from behind the wall.

"What's going to happen now?" she asked, her voice nervous.

"I don't know Dawn," Buffy replied, softly.

"Ok..."

Buffy stood up slowly and wandered upstairs towards her bedroom. Once there she grabbed her leather jacket from the open wardrobe and put it on over her white tank top. She kneeled down and pulled out the large chest that contained her weapons. Buffy grabbed a stake which she slid up her sleeve and a small bottle of holy water which she held in her pocket.

"I'm going out," she called to her friends as she approached the front door.

"When will you be back?" Willow asked.

"I'm not sure, don't wait up,"

Buffy left the house and walked into the almost dark garden. She knew where to look; it wasn't rocket science, the graveyard. After she arrived at the open graveyard, the sky had become much darker, the large moon shone high up above setting a beautiful silver glow across the grass. It was completely silent around. Buffy walked slowly through the dark graveyard, her eyes scanning every inch of it.

"Come out, come out wherever you are," Buffy said, quietly.

A firm hand grabbed her shoulder; she spun around quickly whipping out her stake as she did. The hand grabbed her wrist that held her stake.

"Spike!" Buffy stated, surprised.

"Might want to watch what you're doing out here," the blonde vampire said.

"I could've killed you,"

He released her wrist as she slid the stake back up her sleeve.

"It's never that easy, love,"

"Don't call me that," she said angrily.

"You didn't mind it before, love," he stated as he moved his head towards her neck.

She stepped away from him before he began anything.

"Spike, what're you doing here?" she asked, raising her eyebrow.

"Just out and about Buff, it is dark and I am a vampire. What do you expect?"

Buffy turned around and walked away from him.

"Hey! Wait up, don't you want some help?" Spike called after her.

Buffy sighed. "If you must but just keep quiet,"

"That's new," Spike said, playfully.

Buffy shot him a cold glare. As she was about to open her mouth, a twig snapped to her right. She looked through the darkness, her soft, brown eyes squinting.

"Spike did you hear that?" she asked the blonde vampire.

"Spike?" she called into the darkness.

He was nowhere to be seen, vanished. Buffy quickly scanned the area but he was gone. Another twig cracked in the distance followed by a muffled sound. This time it was closer. She could feel her blood pumping, no matter how many times she did this she always had that small bit of nervousness inside of her. A breeze crawled through the air, disturbing her blonde curls. Buffy headed towards the entrance to the forest, another sound shot through the air, a rustling maybe? Her legs took her closer to her desired location. She could make out a dark figure between the trees. At least she thought she could. She became convinced when the figure tried to move away quickly, fortunately for Buffy his jacket was caught on a stray branch. She ran forwards, the figure developed into a man, a man that looked familiar. He took off his jacket that had been ripped by the tree and walked closer to Buffy, his face becoming clearer as the moonlight found him. It was Tony DiNozza.

"What are you doing out here?" Buffy asked, her face barely showing concern.

"Funny, I was about to ask the same thing to you," he smirked.

"Do you not realise what could have happened to you out here?"

"Is this another one of your vampire stories, maybe that mental institution shouldn't have let you go?"

"Stories? Are you kidding me? This is serious ok? You really need to realise the dangers of the world... Wait how do you know about the institution?" Buffy asked, her face shocked, no one was meant to know about it.

"You can't hide these things from us, there's always a record. And as for your vampire theory, seriously?"

"Theory? Why can't you just understand this? It's real, why the hell do you think I'm carrying a stake and holy water, for kicks?"

"Maybe because you're crazy,"

"Do I seriously have to show you proof of this, will that help you understand? Because the last thing I need is another dead body to take care of,"

"For you to take care of? We are meant to take care of the bodies, it's our jobs!"

"Yeah well it's my job to protect you people from vampires and I think I'm doing my job better than you, at least I saved your doctor guy,"

"Saved him?"

"Yeah from the vampire! He would have died if I hadn't!"

"Just show me a stupid vampire then!"

"Fine I will!"

"Anyway I thought they were dangerous?"

"They are, they are deadly dangerous but Spike is different,"

"Spike? A vampire named Spike? What's next...?"

"Just shut up and follow me,"

Buffy wandered back into the graveyard with Tony not far from her. She looked around for any sign of Spike but there was none.

"Spike?" she called into the darkness.

"Looking for someone little girl?" a strange voice asked.

Buffy swung around and saw a figure appear from the darkness. Tony shuffled closer to her, not admitting it but he was a bit scared. The man's face was revealed in the moonlight, his face disfigured, he was a vampire. The strong bone structure caused him to look incredibly scary; his small, green eyes watched Buffy and Tony.

"That's a vampire," Buffy said casually, her finger pointing at the man. "Now you might want to move," she muttered as the man ran at them.

Buffy dodged the attack and swung around quickly. She moved in closer to the man and punched him straight in the jaw; the impact caused a small cut in his bottom lip. Her leg reached out as she kicked him, sending him into a gravestone which cracked as soon as his back smashed against it. He ran at her and caught her arm which was about to defend herself. His icy, dead skin held tightly as he pushed her arm behind her back. A small pain filled her shoulder as he held onto her arm.

_BANG!_

The bullets shot straight through the vampire. Tony's eyes widened as the vampire stayed unaffected. He pushed Buffy to the ground and lunged at Tony who stood frozen with his gun in his hand. Buffy came in from behind and thrust the long wooden stake straight through his unbeating heart. Tony stepped back as the vampire exploded into dust that scattered across the grass.

"Still believe it's a joke?" She asked, seriously.

Tony stood there in shock. Never had he seen anything like this before. Vampires were supposed to be myths not real situations.

"Well?" She asked again.

"B-B-But..." He tried to say, his mind jumbled.

"Just go home," Buffy said, walking away from him.

"You're crazy!" he yelled as she wandered further into the distance.

Tony slowly walked back to the headquarters. _This wasn't real. It has to be a joke, right? How can it be a joke, he turned into dust in front of me. Do they really exist? No they can't, she needs help, serious help! I saw it happen in front of my eyes though. I have no idea what's going on..._


	4. Chapter Four: Uncontrollable Emotions

*************************Next Morning*********************************************

Gibb's blue eyes watched the clock ticking away as he sat thinking about what to do next. He looked at the stairs to see Tony hurrying down.

"Late Tony?" he said, smirking.

"Sorry boss." Tony said, breathlessly as he sat at his desk sorting out the papers on it.

"Did you notice anything suspicious about Buffy when you followed her?"

"Actually..." Tony's voice faded away as he remembered the night before.

"DiNozzo?"

"I followed her to a graveyard and we talked and then..."

"Yes?"

"We were attacked..."

"What? By who?" Gibbs raised his voice causing Ziva and McGee to look up from their desks.

"Not who, it wasn't human," Tony replied, his eyes widening.

"Not this again. Tony don't start believing these mental people."

"I'm not being fooled into anything. It wasn't human, then she stabbed him with a wooden stake and it turned to dust! And the way she kicked him was unbelievable, she's extremely strong! And he just got up like she barely touched him,"

Gibbs sat speechless. _Tony seemed like he was serious but could how can they exist. It just didn't seem right. Vampires?_ _Was it that crazy to even consider it?_

"Boss?" Ziva said, watching Gibbs.

"Ok, I'm going to go see Ms. Summers again. McGee, was there anymore bodies?" Gibbs asked.

"No but another girl went missing yesterday," McGee transferred her I.D onto the big screen. "She's called Katrina, she's 18 years old. Parent's reported her missing yesterday after she didn't come home the night before,"

"McGee, Ziva go talk to the parents; find out if they know anything."

"What should I do Boss?" Tony asked.

"Whatever you want," Gibbs stated as he stood up to leave the headquarters.

*********************************NCIS**********************************************

Willow's red hair bounced off her shoulders as she headed towards the front door. Her pale hand wrapped around the handle as she opened it, revealing a silver haired man with bright blue eyes.

"Special Agent Gibbs, NCIS, is Ms. Summers here?" the man asked.

"No, sorry. Do you need me to tell her anything?"

"No, actually if you don't mind could I ask you some questions?"

"Um, sure,"

Willow opened the door further, allowing Gibbs to walk into the house.

"So, you're a friend of Buffy?"

"Yes, I'm Willow Rosenberg. I've actually known Buffy since high school and now we live together,"

"So are you two partners?"

"No, no, just best friends. I am interested in woman though, I have a partner called Tara, but Buffy's straight..." Willow babbled on until Gibbs interrupted her.

"Ok, Willow," he laughed.

Dawn sat in her bed, above the living room listening to Willow talking to the agent. _This isn't fair, why does Buffy always get the attention. Little miss perfect slayer, wanted by everyone. Don't get me wrong I love my sister but she's always the centre of everyone's world. Everyone always thanks her for everything, I've helped before but no one cares. They treat me like a little kid, it's so annoying. I'm so tired of it; I just want to be noticed for once, just once! _Dawn's chocolate brown eyes glanced over to her open draw where a small knife lay. She surveyed it for another minute until she found her fingers reaching out for it. It was as if her hand had a mind of its own. Her long fingers fastened around the cold handle of the blade and brought it out of the draw. She took out her pale arm from her jacket and felt the cold tip of the knife touch her soft skin. A shiver fell down her back. She dug the tip of the blade into her skin until a drop of blood emerged onto her arm. She watched as the knife tore a neat line across her wrist, blood trickled down her hand. The skin parted slowly as the knife carried on along her wrist. Her hand had become red now, blood red. She could feel the endorphins flowing through her, a shiver off fulfilment shook her body. She stared down at her wrist, blood was everywhere. The knife fell from her fingers. Dawn ran over to her bathroom and rinsed her arm in the sink. The tap turned on, she stood staring at her wrist but the blood wasn't washing away. There seemed to be more blood. Her eyes followed the running water, except it wasn't water. It was blood...

A panicked scream filled the house causing Jethro and Willow to look up startled at the ceiling. Gibbs grabbed his gun from his jacket and ran up the stairs. He followed the scream until he reached the door. Willow stood closely behind him.

"That's Dawn's room," she muttered.

"Stand back," Gibbs ordered as her wandered into the room looking around.

He pointed his gun towards the slightly open bathroom door. As he slithered around the door he found a pale white brunette girl crouched against the wall, Dawn. Tears crawled down her white cheeks and her arm was covered in blood.

"Dawn! What happened?" Willow's soft voice asked.

She slowly lifted her shaking arm and pointed an unsteady finger towards the sink where dark red liquid poured out of the tap. Willow gasped. Gibbs stood shocked. He caught a glance of her red hair pass her as she kneeled down and hugged Dawn, tightly. Jethro looked down at her bloody arm, that wasn't just blood from the sink, in-between the stained skin lay a deep cut on her wrist. Gibbs crouched down near Dawn and pointed at her wrist.

"Did you do this to yourself?" Gibbs asked her in his rough voice.

"Dawn?" Willow gasped as she noticed the deep wound.

Dawn looked up at him, her eyes darkened. She followed his finger to the cut in her wrist.

"Yes," she grunted.

Willow stood up, her eyes transfixed on Dawn who sat staring at Gibbs.

"Dawn, honey, what did you do?" Willow asked, her voice shaky.

"Now you pay attention to me," she said in a dark voice.

"Dawn..." she repeated.

"Why do you think I did this, no one cares about me!" Dawn snapped, her voice cracking.

"Dawny, of course we care about you..." Willow reached a hand out for her shoulder but she edged away.

Gibbs watched intently. _Maybe there was more going on in this household than I expected._

"No you don't. It's all about Buffy, Buffy, Buffy. Never about me, no one cares about little kid Dawn!"

A slamming of a door echoed through the house from below. Gibbs turned around and then noticed the tap again.

"I'm going to call my team to check the water supply," Gibbs stated as he watched Dawn shrivel up in the corner.

Buffy barged through the bedroom door and straight to the bathroom where Gibbs was leaving.

"What're you doing here?" she asked, sternly.

"You may want to check on your sister," he motioned his finger towards the bathroom door. "I'm calling NCIS; I may have another murder investigation,"

"Why, what happened?" Buffy asked, her skin slowly turning pale.

"There's blood coming out of the tap," Gibbs said casually as he took his mobile from his pocket.

"I meant about my sister!" Buffy stated angrily.

"Go see for yourself,"

Gibbs began dialling as Buffy ran into her younger sister's bathroom. Her eyes grew wide as she saw her sister curled up on the floor with blood smeared across her bare arm. Willow stood near her, her eyes damp. She looked over to Buffy who stood frozen.

"Will, what happened?" Buffy asked, softly.

"She cut herself, but at least most of the blood is from the tap,"

Buffy grew paler. _She cut herself; my little sister purposely hurt herself. How could she do this? Why would she do this?_

"Why?" Buffy managed to ask.

"She said because no one cared about her," Willow said, almost whispering.

That pushed Buffy too far. Her stomach tightened, her face turned grey. _Why would she think that? Why? _Buffy ran over to the toilet and choked as sick leapt from her mouth. Tears ran down her pale cheeks. _Why would she think no one cared? I love my sister. How could she do this? _Just the thought of Dawn hurting herself on purpose because of something Buffy could've prevented made her feel ill. Buffy stepped away from the toilet and flushed it.

"Buff, are you ok?" Willow asked, concerned for her friend.

"Once again it's all about Buffy," Dawn mumbled.

"What?" Buffy asked, her throat sore.

Dawn looked up, anger on her face. "I said once again it's all about Buffy. I'm sitting here and no one cares. They're just concerned about you,"

"How can you even say that?" Buffy asked, her voice straining.

"Because it's true," Dawn screamed.

"No it's not Dawn, we all love you. How could you think we don't?" Willow cut in, her voice sounded hurt.

"Because no one cares! You treat me like a kid!" She screamed back.


	5. Chapter Five: One More Dead Body

*******************************MEANWHILE***************************************

McGee and Ziva waited anxiously outside the large wooden door. Ziva's brown eyes peered in through the small window but no movement could be seen. A red car was parked in the driveway yet no one seemed to come and greet the waiting agents. McGee stretched his hand out and felt the handle, seeing if it would open, the door was unlocked. His eyes looked over to Ziva who had her hand placed ready on her weapon. They slowly walked in, checking every room they passed.

"Clear!" McGee shouted from the kitchen.

"Clear!" Ziva replied from the other side of the house.

They met at the stairs and travelled up them, watching for any movement, any sign of distress. They separated once more to check each room. McGee walked into a small bedroom, it was rather plain; white walls, wooden floors and a bed with red sheets. The block letters on the wall spelt the name Katrina, looks like this is the missing person's room. McGee moved his hand away from his belt which held his gun and studied the room. Not a single thing out of place. His ears twitched as he heard Ziva's voice call for him.

Ziva was knelt on the floor once he entered the room she was in. Two bodies lay on the bed, no blood was seen. McGee's fingers traced the neck of the male victim, two small holes, identical to the dead marine's, were on the side of his neck. The exact same holes were also on the female victim.

"Ziva, check this out," he called to her.

She stood up, balancing herself, and walked over to where McGee was stood. Her eyes traced the two small wounds on the neck of the victims. There seemed to be no defence wounds visible on the victim's hands or arms.

"They are the same wounds the marine had," Ziva commented.

"Look, I know Gibbs doesn't want us suggesting this but these wounds look awfully similar to what a vampire would do,"

"I know but vampires just doesn't sound right,"

"Yeah I know but come on Ziva. Have you ever thought something like this could maybe be real? Maybe vampires are real, just because we haven't seen one doesn't mean it's not out there."

Ziva stood there, watching the dead parents lay on the bed. She couldn't think of anything to say, maybe he was right, maybe vampires did exist... Before McGee could open his mouth again, his mobile began ringing.

"It's Tony," he said casually as he brought the phone to his ear.

"Hello?" McGee said down the phone.

"McGee, we need you and Ziva to come over to the end of Revello drive, we've got to check the water supply," DiNozzo spoke into the phone.

"Ok, why do we need to check it?"

"Because there is blood coming from the tap in the Summers home,"

"Ok, but we have two dead bodies in the house where the missing girl lives,"

"Is the missing girl there?"

"No, it's just her parents,"

"Ok, I'll call Greg to get the cops to take the bodies to the headquarters."

"Ok Tony, we'll be on our way now,"

The line went dead.

"We need to go to the end of Revello Drive to check the water supply," McGee told Ziva.

"Why?" She questioned him.

"There's blood in the tap or something,"

**********************************Little bit later************************************

Ziva suddenly pressed down the brakes of the silver car as she saw Tony standing by a small building across the road. McGee's head jerked forward as the car stopped.

"Next time I'm driving," he told Ziva as they both got out of the car.

"What's going on then Tony," Ziva asked as she approached her co-worker.

"I don't know yet,"

"Where's Gibbs?" McGee asked.

"He's in the house still, probie, trying to talk to Buffy's little sister."

"Why, what happened to her?"

"She was the one who found the blood and she also self harmed herself. Anyway are you ready or not?"

"Yes, Tony," Ziva stated.

DiNozzo took a key and unlocked the small padlock that hung from the handle. The door opened revealing a darkened tunnel that led to the water supply. Tony took a torch from his jacket and lit up the dank hole. They followed a foul smell that led straight to the open room of the water tanks. Pipes were wrapped around the walls leading off into different directions. Tony's torch explored the small room.

"Tony, what about over here," Ziva commented as she walked past the large water tank.

McGee followed her with Tony sharp on his heels.

"Pass the torch," Ziva said, as her eyes squinted at a large shape ahead of her.

Tony passed the metal torch towards her and she grabbed it from him. The light followed a large pipe that connected the tank to a large metal box that lay next to her without a lid. A small note caught Ziva's eye as the torch light explored around.

"What've you got?" DiNozzo asked her, his eyes full of curiosity.

"It's a note," she replied, not taking much interest in him.

"Really?" he asked sarcastically, "I meant what does it say?"

Ziva shot a glare at him, and then positioned the torch above the note. Her eyes widened slightly as she read the note.

"Well?" McGee asked.

"It says: Welcome to Sunnydale Gibbs," she said, nervously.

"Check the box Ziva!" Tony commanded, his voice covered up the small amount of panic he was feeling.

Ziva peered into the box and almost instantaneously backed away. Ziva's face showed emotion, something it rarely does. Her eyes were open, unblinking.

Tony took the torch out of Ziva's frozen hand and him and McGee searched the box. There, lying in water which had turned red from the blood, was Jimmy Palmer. His face was as white as snow, it made Tony feel ill. His glasses floated in the water next to him. He had two small wounds on the side of his neck, identical to all the other victims. Tony knew what did this, he knew who he had to talk to, yet Ziva and Tim were still arguing in their heads whether it could be true or not.

"I'll go and get Gibbs," Tony muttered, his mind seemed lost.

He had already lost two co-workers in the past, Jenny and Kate, it just didn't seem right to lose another. He wandered slowly out of the water supply shed and towards 1630 Revello drive. His face had turned slightly grey. It wasn't fair that Palmer should die. Why him? He has never done anything to deserve this. By this time Tony hadn't realised he had already reached the door of the house. He slowly twisted the handle and wandered into the living room where Gibbs sat with Buffy, her sister and a red head.

"DiNozzo, is there a body?" Gibbs' voice asked.

Tony simply nodded in reply. He couldn't speak. He didn't want to. It was too awful to think about. He may not have been close to Palmer but he was still like family. The whole of NCIS were family, they were the family he never had. Well Tony has a family but they don't really take much interest in him.

"DiNozzo, what happened?" Gibbs' concern was clearly shown in his voice.

"Palmer," Was all Tony could manage to say.

Gibbs' eyes widened. _Could he possibly mean Jimmy was dead? _Gibbs thought to himself.

"Is he?"

Tony nodded.

"What's going on?" Buffy asked, standing up.

"There's more..." Tony said, ignoring Buffy.

"What?"

"I think the killer may know you, they left a note. A note that said: Welcome to Sunnydale Gibbs." Tony stated.

"Did the body have, you know, bite marks?" The red head called Willow asked.

Tony nodded, he knew this was real. Vampires, vampires were real. They had killed Palmer.

"They aren't bite marks!" Gibbs yelled, "They are wounds; now will you all quit talking about vampires!"

"Look Gibbs..." Tony began, he took a short pause before beginning to speak again, "As much as I'd like to believe you and before the other night I would have but, I know what did this, I may not know who, but I know what. You have to consider thinking that this could be real,"

Gibbs shook his head and walked outside to call Ducky to the crime scene.

Buffy walked up to Tony, her blonde hair swaying behind her.

"I'm sorry about your loss, if there's anything we can do..." she began.

"Yeah there is. You can kill the son of a bitch who did this!" Tony said, his voice hinting rage.

"I'll try, is there anyone who might have a grudge on Gibbs?" she asked.

"A grudge? Seriously?" Tony laughed, "He puts criminals in jail; it's his job. Of course people are going to hate him!"

"I'm sorry,"

"No, I am. I'll let you know if anyone important comes to mind but there will probably be a lot and some that we would never guess as well,"

"But the person will be dead because they're a vampire, so check the most likely people to hate him out and see if they're dead or missing,"

"Thanks," Tony simply replied, as he walked away outside.


	6. Chapter Six: You Again

**********************************Later that day***********************************

Ducky stood next to the bench where the corpse of Jimmy Palmer, his assistant, lay. Once again he had another co-worker to autopsy. He could understand how Kate and Jenny had ended up there but what had Jimmy done to deserve this.

"Jimmy, what happened to you?" Ducky mumbled under his breath as he examined the wound on his neck.

The sound of sliding doors interrupted the doctor. The clicking of heels instantly revealed that Abby had opened them. Ducky turned around to see her standing there, a small reassuring smile on her face.

"How're you doing?" she asked nervously as she wandered over to where Palmer lay, lifeless.

"Oh Abby, this is not an autopsy I ever thought I would have to do," the small doctor stated.

She hugged him tightly, knowing that words wouldn't make this situation any better, even though hugging won't exactly help either. She couldn't tell whether maybe Ducky had released a small tear or if it was just herself crying which was probably the most likely option. Palmer would be missed, she knew that, no one could replace him, he listened to Ducky's stories, he made everyone laughed, his awkwardness was adorable and he proved to be very intelligent when someone showed they had confidence in him. But now, he was gone, murdered. Someone who wanted Gibbs, the note was for Gibbs so why did Palmer have to die, she didn't want Jethro to die either but Palmer shouldn't have been brought into this. Ducky pulled away from the hug Abby had spontaneously giving him. Her eyes were red from tears, however her face still wore the reassuring smile she had given him when she came in.

"I better do this autopsy Abby, we need to know how he died," Ducky said.

"I think we know how he died," Abby commented, "Just like the rest, drained of blood," she added whilst looking over to the two bodies that he had already autopsied, the parents of the missing girl who was still missing.

"I still have to do it, whether we like it or not,"

"I know," she replied looking down, "I'm going to go," she mumbled.

*********************************NCIS**********************************************

Ziva watched Gibbs like a hawk as he examined the note left for him by Palmer's killer. She could her him muttering over and over again 'Welcome to Sunnydale Gibbs'. Tony broke the silence once he came in carrying coffee from 'Kerri's Koffee Shop' which he handed to Ziva, McGee and finally Gibbs.

"Boss, do you know who could have done this?" he asked, unsure whether or not he should have said anything.

"If I knew I would tell you DiNozzo," he stated, not looking up from the note.

"Well at least I'm trying to make a start!" Tony shouted.

"And you think I'm not!" he finally broke his gaze from the note.

"I'm sorry Boss," Tony replied, understanding that he actually did care.

"Rule 6, Tony," he stated.

"I don't give a damn about your rules right now! Someone who you know has just murdered our co-worker, our friend!"

Gibbs didn't answer, he understood everything Tony was saying but how was he meant to know who was killing people. A lot of people had a grudge against him; he was a cop for god sake.

"Fine, I'll see you tomorrow," Tony stated.

He spun around to leave when Gibbs interrupted him.

"Where are you going?" he asked, his voice slightly angered.

"To follow a lead," Tony muttered as he left the building.

Tony leaned against his car for another couple minutes, watching the sun set over 1630 Revello Drive, Buffy's house. He knew she would be out, out to defeat vampires and stuff. Wow, vampires, that was still sounding too weird. It was about five more minutes until he saw her leaving the house. She wore black leather pants and a red off the shoulder jumper. Her hair hung loose behind her back and bounced as she walked. Tony followed, leaving a small gap between them, he knew she'd figure it out eventually but he wanted to not have to confront her straight away. He stalked her further into the graveyard as the full moon rose above them. The silver light flooded the area, causing an almost mystical glow across the dry grass. Just as he was about to approach her fully a darkened figure edged out of the shadows. Tony stepped back, crouching behind a large grave stone.

"Angel?" Buffy asked surprised.

The figure confidently walked forward, the moonlight revealing his face. He had a strong bone structure and pale skin. His black hair was slightly messed up and he wore an all black outfit, black jeans and a black shirt.

"B, nice to see you," he said darkly.

"B?" she commented, slightly taken back.

"Problem?" he asked coldly.

"Angel what's gotten into you?"

"Oh poor little innocent Buffy, always expecting me to be all soulful,"

"No..." she said, her voice almost cracking.

"Oh yes, I'm back and I'm better than ever,"

"No, Angel..."

He cut her off, "What, going to give me the good old speech, there's still some good in you Angel, you can't have turned Angel. Well sorry to break it to you Buff, but Angel's gone and Angelus is back,"

"How?" she managed to say.

"Well first the soul went when some magical freak removed it then I found out it was done because some vampire wanted me to be soulless. Then I was confronted by this vampire, she was saying stuff like she wanted revenge bla bla bla, I wasn't going to join her until she mentioned Sunnydale, that's what convinced me, I get to see you and torture you,"

"You won't lay a hand on me," Buffy growled.

"Me just being here is torture and don't try and deny it," he chuckled.

"Who is this vampire then?"

"Paloma Reynosa," Angelus stated, not caring that he had just revealed who he was working with.

"Who is she?"

"You'll find out soon," Angelus said as he moved back into the shadows.

Buffy jumped as Tony creeped out from behind the grave stone. Her eyes were damp with tears, and her face was heartbroken.

"What do you want Tony?" she asked, she sounded hurt.

"Who's Angel?" Tony asked curiously.

"He's not Angel anymore," Buffy sighed, she tried her best to keep her tears from emerging.

"Then who is he?"

Buffy's eyes glanced down at the floor, "Angel is a vampire, and he's over 200 years old. He has a soul though; some gypsies cursed him because of some of the incredibly evil things he did. A couple years ago, when I met Angel I fell in love, and we dated for a while, but then he moved to L.A and I didn't see him again. Now he shows up and his soul has been removed, which is probably the worst possible thing that could happen, he'll be exactly like the vampire he was back then, Angelus. He'll just keep killing and torturing and to be honest, I don't think I can stop him unless we get his soul back." Buffy said, just thinking about Angelus made her stomach turn. She didn't want to face him, she couldn't. She barely managed the last time and even then he came back.

"Who is Paloma Reynosa then?"

"I have no idea, you might want to ask Gibbs that," she mumbled.

"You think that she is the one after Gibbs?"

"Maybe," Buffy answered, her voice still sounding hurt.

"Hey, are you ok?" Tony asked softly, walking up to her.

"I-I just don't think I c-can handle this," She replied, a couple tears rolling down her cheeks.

Tony pulled her into a friendly hug, her head resting against his shoulder. He wrapped his arms around her protectively not wanting to let go. Buffy dug her head into his jacket; she just wanted this to all go away. With Angelus back she had no idea how to handle herself. It was going to be her worst nightmare. She didn't want to kill him even if she could, that would mean Angel would be gone forever. If Willow could put his soul back it would be ok unless he had already anticipated that, what if he's after Willow. No, I doubt he's smart enough to have considered yet but that doesn't mean they aren't in danger. She knew she had to warn them, now! Buffy pulled away from the hug and wiped her eyes.

"I have to go," She whimpered.

"Are you sure?" Tony asked.

"Yeah, I need to warn my friends,"

As soon as she had finished her sentence, she turned and ran off, far off into the distance. Just as Tony began to turn around he felt a strong hand cover his mouth, not allowing him to shout. The hand firmly gripped him, strength unlike any he had ever felt or seen.

"Well, well, well Tony," the man said mockingly, "Seems like our little Buffy likes you, wonder how she'll feel when I'm ripping your throat out,"

Tony gulped, his eyes widening. He knew how to handle himself in danger but in Sunnydale, where there are vampires; god knows how long he'll survive. His face was slightly grey; a thin layer of sweat was stuck to his skin.

"Don't worry though," he laughed, "I won't hurt you until Buffy comes running, so you're not dying anytime soon, unless of course I'm underestimating how much she feels for you,"

The man dragged the wriggling cop into the woods, eventually disappearing into the night.


	7. Author's Note

**It has been a while since I've even looked at this story, never mind wrote anything for it. But I'm going to try to finish it, it won't be quick because I'm in the middle of a Primeval fanfiction which is at the top of my priority list, and I'm going to attempt to re-write the first six chapters. The plot won't change; I just think it needs a bit of an edit. It has been over a year I think since I wrote this story, and my writing hasn't really improved much, but I'll give it a go.**

**Thanks for all of the lovely comments, story follows and views. You guys are my inspiration to try and continue this story, so thank you! :)**


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